


for she is also your salvation

by Jedi Buttercup (jedibuttercup)



Category: The Huntsman (Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Curse Breaking, F/F, Wordcount: 1.000-5.000, Yuletide 2020
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-24
Updated: 2020-12-24
Packaged: 2021-03-10 22:41:08
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,500
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28294725
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jedibuttercup/pseuds/Jedi%20Buttercup
Summary: The Mirror had given Ravenna a truer answer than she knew:take her heart in your hand, and you shall never again need to consume youth.
Relationships: Ravenna/Snow White (The Huntsman)
Comments: 6
Kudos: 22
Collections: Yuletide 2020





	for she is also your salvation

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Damkianna](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Damkianna/gifts).



> A treat, because I adore these movies, too! Set during SWatH.

The girl backed away from Ravenna, a laugh dancing in her eyes as she lifted the enchanted apple to her lips, a bright spot of color amid the black and white of the snowy forest. Still the same bright soul, even now, ever the single rose blooming despite the desolation around her.

Ravenna had grown very tired of that story in the early years of her rule. Magnus himself had told it to her first, a warmth in his eyes nearly the equal of her own hold on him even with her strongest spells at work; and it had seemed on the lips of every subject mourning the girl's loss in the months that followed. Not a one of them should have been able to so much as _speak_ of the beauty of anyone other than their new Queen; and yet they had, fixated on their lost princess, even as the gaze of the courtiers had followed Snow White instead of the bride at Ravenna's own wedding.

Worse, it had seemed at the time, she had not even escaped the girl's lure herself. Unable to kill her; unable even to stay away, defending her visits to the north tower under the excuse that royal blood or not, the girl would be of no use as any sort of bargaining chip with no education or socialization beyond that of a child. Snow White had always feared her, but never, ever quailed before her – no more than she did now, so easily walking into Ravenna's trap. Speaking of fear turning to _sorrow_ for Ravenna, of all things. Touching the cheek of Ravenna's borrowed form with the caress of a lover, and daring to press a kiss to her disguised lips.

Something within her quivered; and Ravenna watched Snow's teeth sink into the flesh of the apple with a desperate hunger deeper than anything she had felt in years. This – pursuit – had cost her her brother already; she could not wait to see those crystalline eyes glaze over with her revenge, watch the pulse beat wildly in her throat before it submitted for good to her clawed grasp.

Snow smiled around her mouthful, then swallowed ... and _laughed_ , letting the apple fall to her feet as she turned to dart between the winter-bare trees. As though no enchantment had touched her at all; as though absolutely nothing important had just happened.

"No," Ravenna whispered roughly, voice still low with the Duke's son's borrowed tones. "No!"

She knew every facet of that spell; knew her own power had not yet faded so far as to fail her. Snow should have _choked_ on that bite; should have collapsed, gasping, luminous eyes dimming in betrayal. Ravenna had even foreseen what she would say to her, to render the victory even sweeter: _you see, child, love always betrays us_.

Love.

... The enchantment on the apple had only _one_ weakness.

Snow glanced back, throwing a teasing smile over her shoulder as she waited for her old friend to follow, then faltered to an uncertain halt; something in Ravenna's frozen expression must have alarmed her, for Ravenna was far past caring about maintaining the illusion. Mirth faded into a confused concern as Snow began to retrace her steps. "William? Is something wrong?"

Ravenna's lips parted under the weight of her own amazement; then she shook her head, allowing the transformation spell to fade. It had served its purpose, and what came next would undoubtedly require a more _personal_ confrontation. Her face twisted, bones shifting, hair lengthening; and then she was herself again, reaching a careful hand up to touch her cheek.

She had suspected, but to find the skin smooth under her fingertips, firmer and younger than it had been in years, shortened Ravenna's breath and quickened her pulse in disbelieving triumph. She could feel her heart beating stronger in her chest; feel the vitality waking in the land all around her. Her power had grown so heavy over the years, consuming not only her own life and that of any young person she fed it, but also every kingdom she conquered, inevitably leaving devastation in her wake; she had not been able to truly _enjoy_ any conquest for more than a decade or so in many years. But it felt as light as a feather, now: singing within her veins, ringing in near-harmony with a pure, untried power so near as to be almost within her grasp.

Could it be? Had she so mistaken the Mirror's words? Or had it deliberately attempted to lead her astray, fickle reflection that it was, desiring to keep her bound to _its_ power?

 _Take her heart in your hand, and you shall never again need to consume youth_.

Snow's eyes had widened at Ravenna's true appearance, but even now she did not falter, holding her ground little more than an arm's length away. "What? But ‐ how are you here?"

"Searching for you of course, my dear," Ravenna said, a smug, dawning smile turning up the corners of her mouth. She had never tested the so-called True Love clause herself, but she knew its requirements. Disguise could not fool it; mistaken belief could not sway it. Strictly speaking, affection was not required; merely a bond of the deepest commitment. And, of course, a mingling of essences.

She had not heard before of the negating kiss _preceding_ the curse; but, she supposed, there was a first for everything.

And now, now there need _never_ be a last.

"But there is, I think, a more important question," she continued, stepping forward inexorably until Snow's back pressed against the bark of a tree. Then she leaned forward, reaching to caress the princess' cheek in echo of the girl's earlier gesture, watching her eyes dilate in a confused mixture of adrenaline-fueled emotions. Finally, she leaned those last few inches and took Snow's mouth in a firm kiss.

The girl tasted of sweetness, and the lighting strike before the thunder; a tap directly into the lifeblood of the land, flowing wholly into _Ravenna_ now, filling her up rather than draining away in the familiar downward-spiraling effort to maintain her beauty and power. Snow's lips parted under Ravenna's, instinctively responding; then she pulled back with a gasp, something newly self-aware and stricken to the quick rising in her alarmed gaze.

She had been fascinated with Ravenna since the day of their meeting; had remained fascinated all her youth, even in the midst of her fear. And now, as a young woman, it would be the means of snaring her to Ravenna's future. Twenty lives Ravenna had lived, dominating all around her through fear and absolute power; with the last hope of the kingdom tying her own power to Ravenna's, binding their subjects' love ‐ what remaining kingdom could they _not_ conquer, great though its own magic be? 

"No," Snow whispered, in echo of Ravenna's earlier stunned denial. She had to be aware that something had changed between them, though she might not have the words to describe it; and the heaving of her chest, the way her eyes kept dropping to Ravenna's mouth, spoke their own conclusion. 

"By fairest blood it is done," Ravenna replied, filled to the brim with vicious satisfaction. "All I ever wanted was your heart, dearest girl; you did not need to make it so very difficult."

"I ... I don't understand," Snow replied, confusion flickering through her face. But she fought no more, standing flushed and trembling within Ravenna's grasp.

"You will, my dear," Ravenna said magnanimously, stroking her cheek. It would be a longer-term seduction than had been required of her in years; but the prize, she thought, would be more than worth the effort. And chains of love were ever so much stronger than mere bars of cold iron, in the end.

She felt an ache, then, in the inward hollow that had been her anchor to her brother all these years; then dismissed it angrily as the noise of Snow's little band of rogues tramping through the woods began carrying through the still air. Finn had failed her; but the girl would not. She would make sure of it.

Ravenna pulled Snow White closer as she began at last to struggle once more, then cast a triumphant look over her shoulder toward the horrified gaze of the huntsman and the would-be suitor. They would fall at her feet; or they would die, but for the moment, she could afford to be magnanimous.

"Shhh," she murmured to the defiant girl in her arms. "All will be well now." Then she closed her eyes and drew on the deep, sparkling fountain of magic that now flowed through them both.

Beside them, a frost of leaf-buds formed on dark, winter-bare branches. Then they swept upward, breaking apart into a flock of ravens, arrowing back toward the castle.

Ravenna could feel Snow's terror and confusion give way slowly to wonder, and knew she would laugh for joy the moment she had a throat to speak with once more.


End file.
